Snow and heavy rain fell on the south west this morning but milder weather is
in store for next week, according to meteorologists.

Residents in Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset awoke to find a thin covering of snow on higher ground on Sunday morning, as a low pressure weather system swept across the south of the country.

It was due to carry heavy rain, strong winds and hail eastwards across the country during the morning, reaching the south east by lunchtime and settling over East Anglia during the evening causing lighter and patchier rain.

Last weekend north-eastern England had its first snow of the season, which reached as far south as Lincolnshire as clocks were set back for the end of British Summer Time.

But after a chilly weekend in which maximum temperatures dropped below single figures in the south, the Met Office said the coming week would be warmer and milder than recent days.

Much of the country was expected to see a bright day on Sunday with scattered showers, but temperatures were not expected to creep above nine degrees.